Up to now, existing roofing systems are very labor dependent and require multiple steps.
Existing roofing materials are primarily bituminous based asphaltic substances, and have inherent limitation in their abilities to perform well and over time when exposed to weathering conditions such as U.V exposure, wind, precipitation, temperature extremes and physical shocks.
Contamination problems arise with the use of traditional bituminous based roofing systems, where equipment and clothing eventually are covered with tar. Substantial costs and labor is required in maintenance and replacement of the said equipment. Additionally, traditional bituminous based systems require significant labor and machinery to lift materials to the roof surface. Installation and removal of such system also require significant labor.
Furthermore, traditional roofing systems apply materials at elevated temperature (typically between 450° C.-900° C.) and results in injury, fire and worker safety issues. Significant amount of Volatile Organic Compound (V.O.C) are present in traditional systems which are environmental and health issues.
Traditional roofing systems, when exposed to hot weather conditions, are prone to heat degradation and tearing. They may also stick to worker's footwear or equipment thus rendering roof servicing inconvenient. Furthermore, asphaltic substances are directly affected by the price of world oil commodities
Typical membrane-based roofing products exhibit “wind lift” drawbacks due to the fact that their point of adhesion to the substrate are limited.
Newer materials based on Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (E.P.D.M) membranes involve welding of joints which can cause fires. The placement of sheets is laborious. They are also prone to tearing and perforation as the thickness is typically 3 mm or less. The sheets can be auto-adhesive or not but still in most cases, require welding of the joint.
Other systems include spray systems which are E.P.D.M, polyvinyl. chloride (P.V.C) and asphaltic based, and are sometimes rubber modified and can be cold applied in thin layers. These systems are subject to abrasion, puncture, and thermal cracking caused by tension and compression.
Recent polymeric sheet membranes (E.P.D.M, P.V.C, bituminous modified and other) are complex to apply, and require many joints which are leak prone and subject to failure when tensile forces result from thermal expansion and contraction.
Roofing systems employing shingles all suffer from leakage due to “wind lift”, curling and water back-up. Shingles are nailed and nail holes provide water entry. Shingles are a non-continuous barrier. Shingles can be made of asphalt, cedar, clay, aluminum, asbestos, cement and compositions thereof.
There is therefore a great need to provide an improved coating composition as well as apparatus and method for applying said composition.